Two winters ago, Miami personal trainer Sergio Pacheco handed client Gio Gonzalez a folder. Inside was a detailed conditioning plan, but what the young left-hander remembers more was what was written on the outside.

It read: “Project 20.” The goal: Turn Gonzalez into a 20-game winner in the big leagues.

“I sit back and I laugh about it, but that’s every day, when I worked out with him, it was … something we wanted to strive for. In a way, you kind of smile about it, because we finally reached our goal, and now it’s time to change it up and continue to try and get better goals and higher goals.”

Gonzalez will have to set a greater standard for himself in 2013, because he’ll forever be etched into the 2012 record book as the majors’ first 20-game winner after a dominating performance Saturday during the Nationals’ 10-4 victory over the Brewers.Read more

Ouch guys, so cruel after a win. Congrats to Gio for putting the work in and having the faith it would pay off. Kudos to Rizzo for the trade and the immediate signing of Gio to a long-term deal. I wonder if that took pressure off of Gio? Good question to ask if anyone gets a chance to talk to him face to face. 😉

Gio's been outstanding!As for milestones, it looks like the Washington Senators' own Buddy Lewis scored exactly 100 runs at age 19 in 1936.I haven't found any other teen who has come close. Bryce Harper has 89 runs scored with 12 games to play. I hope he'll be the second teenage Nat to reach the century mark.

Guy totally deserves it. Way to go, Gio. As one who was in his corner from Day 1 of this blockbuster trade, I say, "Let's go, Gio." And way to go, Rizzo.You people can have Tommy Milone, et al. This is the guy who makes us tick.

Bryce seems to have settled in with his hitting. You can tell how much he respects Jayson Werth, too. He is still learning in the outfield, but his arm is becoming Ankiel- like already. Congrats to Gio, a great guy and always humble and giving credit to his teammates. You have to love a guy who can face plant, get up and throw a strike, then laugh at himself.

Reposting…Kilgore's gamer on WaPo has a pic of Gio's Face Plant and if you are on twitter Cindy Boren has been tweeting out a couple of other shots of Gio's face plant..Swear to god, my heart stopped when he went down.https://twitter.com/CindyBoren

I also stopped breathing for a minute. So glad it was just embarrassing and not harmful. Those folks got out of that dugout very, very fast! Relief all around. Sure the guys will have a chalk outline for him by tomorrow. He is pretty funny but fierce on the mound.

baseballswami said… One game at a time. I am still enjoying today's. September 22, 2012 9:38 PM _______________________________One game at a time? The Braves reporters are saying that Freddi Gonzalez will adjust his rotation on Tuesday to setup Medlen for the Wild Card game as his starter.

The one game at a time is so cliché. With Davey announcing days ago that Wang was pitching Sunday tells you how far in advance you have to think.ahead.Don't be surprised if the Phillies lefty stackup with Lannan isn't a better look for Davey for a possible Atlanta matchup in the playoffs.I wouldn't be shocked to see Gio-Detwiler-Lannan in games 1-3.

A postscript about Buddy Lewis, who scored 100 runs for the Senators at age 19 in 1936.I did not know his story. This man — who just died last year at 94 — lived a remarkable life. He made the All-Star team as a kid, then lost three prime years in World War II, in which he flew more than 350 transport missions. After the war he became an All-Star again in 1947.He became a car dealer in North Carolina, where he coached a local ball club with the help of the real Crash Davis.I wish I could make the link work, but Lewis' 2011 obit in the Post is a great read. It includes great quotes from Shirley Povich writing about Lewis when He was this town's 19-year-old phenom.Sounds like quite a guy.

Umpire Hall ofShame for umps nominee Ed Hicox. Called balk becauuse Kererko was not holding at first on pickoff throw. Rules says if fielder headed for bag at time of toss he is deemed to be covering. Ump said he wasnt moving but he was. Hswk Harrelson giving ump the business.love warching white sox games when Nats arent playing rspecially when ump screws up.

I wouldn't be shocked to see Gio-Detwiler-Lannan in games 1-3.In the playoffs? Over world series veteran EJax? No way that's just ridiculousness at its height. Lannan? Why not Chien-Ming Wang? He looks better than EJax and Zimmermann … that's how ridiculous that sounds.

No, not LannEn against the Phillies. Please, no.Bobby, yep.And they gave me grief for liking Trevor Holder's bull dog approach? This LanNen worship is ridiculous. Lannan is suddenly a 20 game winner with 200 strike outs like Gio? Ridiculous rubbish.This time I'll be sure to be here to give you a shout out when the Phillies have their way with him yet again.

Anyone notice that the team photo had everyone in it EXCEPT Gio? Seriously!What a great story about him, Mark. LannEn has proven himself against the Phil's. I just hope Daveynreally does read this and knows to fill out the lineup card the right way.GYFNG!

LannEn has proven himself against the Phil's. We'll see. He just isn't as good as everyone wants him to be. Every time I watch Zach Duke, a 15-5 record in AAA as a starter, come out and be very effective in relief, in spite of being a soft-tosser … it makes me wonder even more about Lannan and how much he is way overhyped, and his talent level way over estimated.There really are other guys who have busted their butts and have talent. Lannan's one hold on that slot is his past contributions to this franchise while it was losing. Keep in mind that the aged wonder, Livan Hernandez, came back as a last-minute minor league signing and beat Lannan out for ace of this team. He started yet another opening day for this franchise as a result. And Livo must be pushing 40. Do you think LIvo could beat out any of Strasburg, Zimmermann, Detwiler, or Jackson in the same situation? I don't.

All of a sudden, I'm worried. First off, I agree with peric, which is some sort of new record.I'm going game-by-game and I'm worried:Today and Monday vs. the Brewers: I am afraid we're going to lose both. CMW will be lucky to see the fourth inning against this lineup. I can't see Stammen too early.I certainly hope the Phillies have Pholded by Tuesday, but there's no way I like our chances in a LannEn vs. Colbert matchup.That leaves Wednesday: Det is our best chance.Thursday: EJax vs. Kendrick, tossupThen we go into St. Louis, which figures to be fighting for its playoff life.Then we finish with three against the Phils. I hope we have it wrapped by then. I really hope it doesn't come down to those three.Meanwhile, Barves have the Marlins-Mets-Pirates finishing kick.I certainly hope we're not counting on the Barves losing too many more. Somewhere, somehow we have to find six wins. Anything the Barves give us is gravy. I'm worried. The bourbon and Maalox is out… and it's not even the ninth inning.Worried in Bethesda.

Woke up early and will post here although it pretty much has nothing to do with Gio. Feel ok about that since the thread has shifted to LannEn.What I wanted to mention might help Sunshine Bobby just a bit. In the very first inning, Braun had singled & Ramirez was up. He hit a slow roller to short and Desmond made the throw to 2nd. Braun was literally jogging into 2nd, loafing might be a better word. I looked at my son and said, its the first inning and they have already stopped hustling. Later, Bryce singled sharply to left and went waaay wide on his turn hustling like we have come to expect. Earlier, he stole 3rd after distracting Peralta to death. We attack on the basepaths with Werth & Harper, while their superstar jogs to an easy out. So Sunshine, you can worry but our lads are hustling and that usually means good things.Now LannEn is another story. I also agree with Peric that what I saw in person from LannEn his last start and Wang in the same game was the reason Davey is pitching CM today. Wang was up to 93/94 at times and after a rough start, he settled in. The Dodgers did get a couple hits but everything was on the ground. I am not delirious enough to think that either of these men will be on the playoff roster. I think our four starters are set and I while one might be added as a long man, I think Gorzo and Stammen have that covered.This is long but its early AM & most of you pass up what I write anyway. My last point is, I am glad we will be playing meaningful games until the end. We have not been as sharp lately and I think it will help us to get ready by playing teams that are still in the hunt. DeRosa gets a lot of grief here but when you listen to the players, he almost always gets mentioned as one of our leaders. Not sure he will be on the playoff roster but I can bet he will be in the dugout giving advice throughout the WORLD SERIES!Off to make coffee.Go Nats!! Score First!! Win the Division!!

On Tuesday, when it rained, the magic number seemed eternally stuck on 11. Now, five days later it is six. Exhale just a tiny bit. Six good things have to happen out of 22 games( 11 each team, I think). Those are decent chances. Never a given. Oh, September, you have become a gauntlet.

Sadly.. off to the pointy ball game. I am going to have Charlie and Dave on the radio. Even have my Curly W earrings on. Lord save me from the pointy ball…So with that in mind…GO CMW! GO BATS!!! GYFNG!!! Beat the Brewers!

Anna, LannEn comes from a Riggleman gaffe on a lineup card. I wouldn't want the last eleven days to be anything less then a dog fight until the end.I also can't help but to smile when I hear that McCatty and Johnson saw CMW's bullpen sessions as "lights out." I sure would love for him, against all odds, to pitch a good game today.SJM308, Mark DeRosa, if nothing else, got Bernadina to reduce his bat weight. I really would love to be a fly on the wall to hear what all he has to say to command such respect from the guys.Tyler Clippard? Is he hurt? I personally don't know what to think, but he pitched a great 9th in the first game of the double header. Then we he was brought back out for the second game and he got 2 strikes on Kemp and threw the high fastball, but Kemp got around on it and made solid contact. Clipp's not the first guy that Kemp has hit a HR off of. The other night when Clipp came in for the ninth in the then 2-1 game I had a feeling of "uh-oh." I have seen Tyler seem to lose his self confidence for a spell several times since he's been here. He's, if not hurt, in one of those spells now. I hope that Davey and Cat can nurse him through this one. We need him strong for the playoffs.This has been an amazing season for all of us. This board makes me feel a little better that there are a few other people that are as all-consumed by what's going on as I am. I really did think before the season started that we would win the division this year. Actually, my confidence in that happening started the day Johnson decided to take over the manager's job. I also thought when Johnson was a "team adviser" that he could be heir-apparent to take over from Riggleman. My suggestions that could happen before Riggleman even quit were ridiculed here. So, now here we are, with a 5 1/2 game lead with 11 to go, and you know what? I really have a hard time grokking that this is really actually happening. I look at this board about a zillion times a day. I look at the standings almost as many times, just to make sure that something hasn't somehow changed.I am mortgaging a huge percentage of my savings for playoff tickets. I think that I, along with a bunch of you, need therapy. Maybe we can get a group rate.GYFNG!!!

Seamhead – I know what you mean. I too have a hard time believing this. I check the standings using many sources, several times a day. At the office I keep the spots page folded open to the standings. I glance at 'em often during the day, to make sure. I've run that loss column in my head many many times.

Natsfan1a: Represent my brothah/sistah. Wifey and ich were thereyesterday and you are exactly right…our bats are heating up again. Cmw may not lock em up but if 15 hits are in the mix…who cares?GYFNG!!!